Panera to go cage-free

05 November 2015

Compassion in World Farming commends Panera Bread's move to eliminate cages for laying hens by 2020

Panera Bread, a leading fast food company in the United States, announced that by 2020 it will no longer buy eggs from farmers keeping their hens in cages. In a statement published today, they also said that all of their pork is now gestation crate-free and 89% of their beef is grass-fed.

“For more than a decade, we’ve been working to reduce antibiotic use and confinement across our supply chain,” said Panera Bread founder and CEO Ron Shaich. Shaich continued, “We are committed to transparency – which means sharing where we are at and where we plan to go. We encourage other companies to join us by transparently sharing their progress.”

“We commend Panera for putting animal welfare at the heart of their business. They have recognized the sea change in the market. No business with integrity, or a future, is going to let cages or crates stay in their supply chain.” said Leah Garces, USA Director for Compassion in World Farming.

Today, only 21 percent of the eggs the company serves come from laying hens raised in cage-free environments. This recent announcement means that all of their 120 million eggs will by 2020 come from hens living in a cage-free environment.

Garces continues, “Panera’s policy will improve the lives over 425,000 hens supplying their 120 million eggs every year. Panera is helping to put the nail in the coffin on cages and crates for farm animals in the United States.”

Panera Bread joins a growing list of restaurant chains that have made cage-free commitments, including McDonald’s, Starbucks and Burger King. Taco Bell, who feature numerous breakfast items with eggs, is among the shrinking list of restaurant chains that have yet to address the issue.

Compassion in World Farming has maintained a partnership with Panera since 2013, supporting their animal welfare initiatives.

McDonald's: In 2015, McDonald's announced they would go 100% cage-free for the more than 2 billion eggs sourced in the US and Canada from 7 million hens.

Compass:Shell: In 2007 announced they would go cage-free for shell eggs and in 2010 disclosed they were buying 91.8 million cage-free shell eggs annually, from around 300,000 hens. Ingredient: In 2015, announced all ingredient eggs would be cage-free by 2019. They currently source 30 million pounds of liquid eggs annually, which they equate to 1 million hens.

Sodexo:Shell: In 2012 announced they would go cage-free for shell eggs by July 2014 and disclosed they were buying 39 million shell eggs annually, from around 138,000 hens. Ingredient: In 2015 announced they would go cage-free for ingredient eggs by the end of 2020 and that they currently buy 20 million pounds of liquid eggs annually, which they equate to 750,000 laying hens.

Aramark: In 2015, Aramark announced they will be sourcing 30 million cage-free eggs, from around 106,000 hens, this year and that “work is underway to strengthen our animal welfare commitment by expanding [their] cage-free egg purchasing to include all liquid, pre-cracked eggs, in the U.S”